The Engagement
by Icepen.girl
Summary: Hermoine finds herself engaged to Harry. Can Draco talk her out of it?  Rated M for possible future chapters
1. Chapter 1

The bedroom was cold, the fire unlit and the late autumn drizzle outside only just beginning to turn into a proper storm.  
>Hermione sat at a round glass table, her back to the floor-to-ceiling windows; her shoulders lightly slumped as she rested her elbows on the table and held up her engagement ring at eye-level.<br>She knew it was beautiful but it was never meant to be hers. She could just see how it would be so much lovelier on Ginny's hand rather than her own. Ginny. Poor Ginny. She had been dead for over a year now. And Ron... She couldn't even think about him without her chest tightening painfully making it hard for her to breathe.

She twirled the ring between her fingers studying the intricately interwoven metal and diamonds as if she could turn back time with it if she turned it anti-clockwise enough times.

They had won the war with Voldemort but in Hermione's opinion it couldn't be considered a victory - not with the amount of lives that had been lost. She blamed herself for their deaths. Had she figured out where all of the horcruxes were and how to destroy them faster than she had, so many could still be alive today. Logically she knew that she couldn't have saved everyone and that Voldemort was the one to blame yet she still felt responsible.  
>A knock at the door startled her from her from her reverie and she had just enough time to straighten her back a little and arrange a tight smile onto her features before Draco Malfoy came into the room.<p>

He had changed during what should have been their seventh year at Hogwarts. His time with the death eaters had obviously scarred him but his arrogance was only fractionally diminished, his demeanor still regal. His parents had been killed trying to flee from the final battle and since they had been the only thing that stood between him leaving Voldemort's forces he had joined their side. Draco saved Hermione's life that day. He had killed Greyback just as he was about to sink his teeth into her. They had helped each other out numerous times since, becoming good friends that told each other all the things that they could never tell anyone else.

"Don't do it." He made it sound so simple. Her fake smile slid off her features to be replaced by a smaller more genuine one. She regarded him challengingly.

"Malfoy, are you telling me what to do? You know very well that I always end up doing exactly what I what anyway."

"No you don't. You always do what you think is right or necessary. Which, usually Hermione, I find admirable but in this case is just stupid."

Hermione looked away from him, turning her attention back to the ring. She saw him move to sit next to her in her peripheral vision. She focused on the ring drinking in its delicate details and trying to summon the strength to tell Draco that he needn't worry, that she and Harry would be happy and that she was in love with him. She had told numerous people just that but Draco was different. She couldn't lie to him. Even if she did he'd see right through her.

"I love him," it was barely more than a whisper.

"I know that. But I also know that you're not in love him." he said in a tone that was much firmer than hers.

"He'd keep me safe, Draco. Millions of marriages have been formed on less than that."

"As if you need protecting." Draco scoffed, pointedly ignoring the other part of her statement.

One of the tiny diamonds encrusting the ring came loose under her fingers. Hermione cursed and got up to get her wand from the bedside table. He followed closely on her heels.

"What do you expect me to do Draco? He asked me in front of thousands of people, I couldn't say no. And I can't say no now because I fear he's losing his mind with grief over Ginny. I think he's on the verge of becoming suicidal. I can't lose him as well. I can't. Reparo!"

The gem readjusted itself in its rightful place. Hermione angrily shoved it back onto her finger. Placing her wand back onto the bedside table she spun around and found herself nose to nose with Draco.  
>"Tell me that you think that he could make you happy instead of miserable - because I have rarely seen you look more upset than you did when I walked in here - and I will leave this alone. I won't play best man at the wedding but I'll shut up about it. Tell me that on some level you want this and I'll shut up."<p>

Hermione just looked at him, desperately wanting to be able to form the words but knowing that she couldn't.  
>"You said thousands of times that he's like your brother. You don't think that that might put a wrench in your 'marriage', your entire relationship, friendly or otherwise?" Draco continued "If he really loved you he wouldn't push you into this."<br>Hermione closed her eyes in defeat, exasperation and complete emotional exhaustion. She willed herself not to break down; deciding the safest course of action for now was to take a deep breath to steady her.

When she opened her eyes Draco was just a little closer again and there was something different in his gaze.

"Don't do it" he repeated "Please, don't do it."

Cupping her face in one hand he leaned forward, giving her every opportunity to pull away, and slowly brushed her lips with his own. She responded after a few seconds, throwing caution out the window and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer, putting all of her suppressed emotions into that one kiss.  
>She broke it off first. Gasping, she pressed her forehead to his lightly and said "I have to go talk to him," before breaking away from him altogether and running out the door.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **I just really wanted to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter; I really appreciated your input. This is my first fanfiction, so I would love to hear any construtive criticism you have for me. I'm currently looking for a beta, so if any of you think you might be interested in being my beta for this story please contact me.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Hermione paused outside of Harry's room mentally preparing herself. How was she supposed to prepare herself for breaking someone's heart? She reminded herself that Harry wasn't actually in love with her but she knew that he wouldn't take it well regardless. She gritted her teeth and pushed open the door- only to find the room behind it to be Harry-free. A little startled by this as Harry had only been out of his room for meals in the past few months. Hermione began to close the door when the large moving photograph on the wall caught her eye. She walked inside and came to stand in front of the plasma-sized scene re-playing itself over and over again.

It was of a beautiful day at the burrow. Ginny, Harry and the Weasley boys had been playing four-aside quidich and Mr Weasley had given Hermione his camera so that she could sit in the shade and take pictures of them if she wanted to. She had always taken one when she finished a chapter. She had been reading Hogwarts A History and had actually dropped the book midway through a sentence to snap this shot of Ginny swooping towards her laughing her musical laugh. Ginny winked at her from the frame before she accelerated and in a whirlwind of red hair dodged Charlie and scored for the fifth time in a row.  
>A sad little smile crossed Hermione's features before she turned and headed out to look for her best friend.<p>

She found him forty minutes later up in the attic, looking calmly out of the window with Hedwig sitting on his arm.

"Hey,"

"Oh, hi Hermione. Lovely weather isn't it?" he said gesturing to outside the window, where a fork of lightning flashed across the sky. Hermione nodded absentmindedly, wondering for the thousandth time how to delicately approach the subject or whether to just rip off the metaphorical band-aid.

"You know this place is dusty and cramped enough to remind me of my old cupboard under the Dursley's stairs." Hermione scowled at this.

"Do you want me to enlarge it a little and I can set up more cleaning spells-"

"No, no don't bother. I don't mind remembering." Hermione got the feeling that he wasn't just referring to his time with the Dursleys.

"Harry we need to talk about the engagement."

"Hmm, I guess we do. So have you started planning the wedding yet?"

"Well no, not exactly."

"Blimey 'Mione, are you feeling ill or something? I would have thought that you would have everything organized down to the last flower arrangement within 48 hours." he teased lightly, finally looking away from the window and at her.

"Harry I'm not so sure the wedding is a good idea."

Hermione blurted, looking away from his face and at Hedwig instead. So much for Gryffindor courage, Granger she thought. When she glanced back at him she was surprised to find him looking at her with a bemused expression.

"Hermione, are you telling me you want to elope? Because if you are I'm going to have to ask you a few questions to make sure you're actually you." outright laughing at her now.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm not trying to tell you I want to elope."

"Well, what's going on then?"  
>Before Hermione could answer there was a loud 'CRACK' and Dobby appeared in front of them, his numerous hats teetering precariously on top of his head, his bat-like ears quivering anxiously.<p>

"Harry Potter, sir! There is Ministry officials banging on the door, demanding to see you, sir! Dobby hears them talking. They wants to take away the Miss! They says she is under arrest." Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. Dobby looked down at his mismatched socks and then up at Hermione "Did Miss do something bad?" he asked.

"Not that I know of," Hermione thought about everything that they could have on her. She hadn't done anything illegal since the end of the war and even then it had usually only been morally grey or necessary to bring down Voldemort, all which she had been pardoned for due to her role in his downfall.

"Hermione leave. If they have a warrant for your arrest they will take you to Azkaban until I can sort this out. But they can't do that if you're not here. Go hide out somewhere for a while. I'll send Dobby to get you once I've sorted this out. Go."

Harry got up, Hedwig hooting with irritation at being jostled from her comfortable position on his arm, and wend downstairs first. Just as Dobby popped out of the attic Hermione remembered her wand was on the nightstand. She also remembered what else she had left by the nightstand. She broke into a run.

That kiss. Despite having become friends over the past several months, once she saw what he was about to do she had still expected his lips to be as cold as he had been towards her during their school years. But no, his lips had been soft, warm and generally very pleasant to kiss. Hermione skidded around the corner and flung open the door to her room. Draco was was the picture of relaxation lounging in the seat that she had vacated earlier and was reading her copy of Magic Most Evile.

"Interesting choice for an ex-deatheater." she quipped as she grabbed her wand and summoned her beaded purple bag that she still always kept prepared for emergencies.  
>Draco raised an eyebrow at her and closed the book.<p>

"How did Potter take it? He's not kicking you out is he?" Hermione had summoned her coat and umbrella and was zipping up her boots, while a large portion of her books cleared themselves off her shelves and climbed into the purple bag.  
>"No but in about a minute there will be ministry officials all over the place trying to arrest me."<p>

"That bad? I didn't think he had it in him to arrest you just because you rejected him. How very Slytherin of him. If I recall correctly, my father mentioned an aunt did something similar. Of course, her lover ended up dead but only after she framed him for a very messy murder... What?" He stopped talking when Hermione gave him a look that would have stopped a stampeding hippogriff in its tracks.

"Okay, one, I didn't have time to tell him before Dobby came in and told us about the ministry clowns waiting for me. Two, Harry and I aren't lovers. And three, let's go before they arrest us, please."  
>He grasped her elbow and the disapparated with a soft pop.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione groaned internally after the familiar squeezing sensation of apparition subsided and she got a good look of where Draco had taken them to. Malfoy manor. After escaping the wretched place over a year ago she had hoped she would never have to set foot inside it again. Absentmindedly tracing the thin scar that Bellatrix's knife had left on her neck, she took a deep breath and caught up with Draco, who had taken several steps towards the large wrought-iron gates and was looking over his shoulder at her with a look that clearly said "Are you coming or what?"  
>Draco was mentally kicking himself for his insensitivity. How could he have momentarily forgotten about the fact that his dear aunt - may she burn in hell- had tortured Hermione in this very house a mere few months ago? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He berated himself with every step he took.<br>He stopped right in front of the gates and they seemed to stir, recognizing his presence. He held out his hand to Hermione who took it without hesitation. Draco smiled a little at this and walked foreword through the gates as though he were smoke, Hermione right on his heels, her eyes wide.  
>"Why here Draco? Don't you think they'll look here? It's not exactly a secret that we're friends." Right. Friends.<br>"Well Granger, I have a whole room of things here that we could use before we go on the run, which I assume we have to do until Potter can get us out of this mess. Again I'm just assuming that they're after me too."  
>Hermione nodded. "Yeah I have a theory on what's going on." When Draco didn't respond she looked at him quizzically "Aren't you going to ask me what it is?"<br>"Not here." he muttered and then opened the large door for her.  
>Hermione stepped inside and had a split second to take in her surroundings and for the dread of being back in the house where she had writhed and screamed from being crucioed over and over again to sink in, before the feeling of a cold bucket of water being poured over her head had her gasping and shaking uncontrollably.<br>Draco hurried over to her and started a string of babbled "I'm so sorry Hermione!"s, that she brushed off with a wave of her hand and slightly hysterical laugh, before he straightened up to his full height and bellowed in a frighteningly commanding voice: "Hankey!Get down here this instant!"  
>The tiniest house-elf that Hermione had ever seen appeared in front of Draco, clad only in a pair of handkerchiefs tied together to make up a makeshift jump-suit for the little thing. Hermione was about to make a mental note to have a talk with Draco about elf rights when he spoke his next words.<br>"Would you kindly explain to me why you have drenched my friend here in freezing cold water?" his tone as icy as the water that had been dunked on top of Hermione's head.  
>"Really Draco, it's fine. As long as she doesn't do it again all is forgiven. We have to hurry."<br>"No it is not. Hermione go change in my room- upstairs, third door on the left- Hankey explain yourself."  
>"Again with the telling me what to do! Draco, her little stunt stopped a panic attack I was about to have, so it's fine. Just let it go."<br>"Would it help if I said please again?" a mixture of exasperation and amusement crossing his features. Hermione faltered for a second trying to recall when he had said please during their last argument and then blushed as she remembered that that was what he had said before he kissed her. She had been much too distracted by his proximity to fully register his use of the word before.  
>"It might" she finally said, turned on her heel and walked swiftly up the stairs.<p>...<p>

Draco walked up to his room, pausing to glance at the portraits of his parents, which were blissfully asleep- he was in no mood for a lecture about bringing Mudbloods into their house- before striding into what used to be his father's study. He was desperate to find out why Hermione had wanted them both to leave before the ministry buffoons found out they had been there. The way he saw it was that she either just wanted him with her so that they could spend more time together. Or she thought he was also going to get arrested. Or she didn't trust him enough to not blab that she had been there moments before they arrived. The last was very unlikely in Draco's opinion and the first he would have expected from most girls. But he knew from experience that Hermione was not like most girls. None of the other girls that he knew had ever punched him. Knowing her, it would probably be all of those reasons tied together with another few that he hadn't thought of.  
>The large ornate desk stood imperiously at the centre of the room, as if overseeing everything that happened in its closed-off kingdom. Draco walked over to the desk and began to look through the drawers.<br>He thought about what Hermione had conveyed about her and Potter before they disapparated. She was still engaged to him. They hadn't slept together. Draco couldn't have been more thrilled by the later but the former did leave much to be desired. She had been gone for well over an hour. Maybe she didn't want to break it off with Potter?  
>When he reached into the fourth drawer his hand closed around the cool metal that he had been searching for.<p>

He drew out the ornate key. Made out of heavy silver, the key was a coiled up snake, it's tongue sticking out and staring at the world with emerald eyes. It began to coil itself around Draco's hand the minute he drew it out of the drawer. He let it, wincing slightly when it bit him lightly to test if he was really a Malfoy and then shivered when it wrapped itself securely around his wrist. The metal refused to be warmed by contact with his skin.

Closing all of the drawers that he had opened Draco headed out of the study and towards his bedroom. What he saw there stopped him dead in his tracks. Hermione was changing in his bathroom but hadn't closed the door all the way, her reflection visible in the mirror.  
>Standing in nothing but her black lace underwear, Hermione was towel drying her long hair. Her eyes hooded and her lips and cheeks redder than usual from the cold. Draco couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her body and notice what else had reacted to the cold. He watched a drop of water fall from her hair and land on her collarbone, clinging to the skin in a vain attempt to hold on before sliding smoothly down the valley between her breasts. She had well-defined curves and smooth flawless skin that seemed to beg for his touch. Draco found himself hard-pressed to not go into the bathroom and ravish her much less look away. What he would give to trace the path that the droplet had taken with his tongue. Once Hermione reached over to lift her magically dried trousers off the counter he finally snapped out of it and went back into his father's study.<p>

When he returned, Hermione was just coming out of the bathroom, fully clothed once more.

"Right this way, milady" he said with a mock bow and gestured out of the door to his room. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the bedroom.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm sorry for not uploading for so long. :S Life happened, so I admit I forgot about the story completely.

Everything is a little too chaotic right now, so I apologize in advance because I probably won't be uploading again very soon.

I hope you enjoy this chapter though. Let me know what you think. :)

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><p>Hermione stared at the various contraptions around the chamber. Draco had said that it was a room full of objects that they might find useful when going on the run. She hadn't thought that the ballroom-sized space would literally be full to bursting point. The objects and contraptions were all stacked on top of one another in teetering piles that seemed to sway like palm trees in the wind. Hermione guessed that there was some sort of charm keeping them all upright as, despite the fact that they all swayed lazily in different directions, none of them ever collided with one another. Standing in the middle of the ever-shifting mass, she began to feel a tad nauseous. Not entirely sure whether it was from the movement of the room or the prospect of going on the run again.<p>

She was relieved by the fact that the fate of the entire wizarding world did not depend on the outcome of their time in hiding this time. Then again, last time she had been hiding with Harry and Ron. She knew that Malfoy had turned over a new leaf, had become her friend and confidant, and even stopped using the word Mudblood, but something was causing Hermione to have doubts about him. She couldn't quite put her finger on what had made her think that... Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true. She did know. She just wasn't sure she wanted to think about it.

"Granger, are you just going to stand there until the team from magical law enforcement arrives, or do you want to pick a few items and get the hell out of here?" the sarcastic drawl came from her left, where Draco was elbow-deep in a shiny large black suitcase. The lid was obstructing Hermione's view of what Draco had in there, which momentarily piqued her curiosity until she heard strange squishing sounds that made her decide that she really did not need to know at that moment.

Hermione drew her hair into a tight ponytail with a flick of her wand and began to look through the nearest pile. After about ten minutes she had gathered a very large stack of the type of books that she was sure would not have even been in the restricted section at Hogwarts but hidden away somewhere in Dumbledore's office. She had also managed to find a Foldable Fire, a tent, a sneakoscope, a magical creature replant brush, and a pair of broomsticks that had been shrunken down to the size of muggle keychain toys. Both brooms had a thin chain that could be elongated, shortened or joined together at both ends to form a bracelet, neckless or hook to hang the broom from. Hermione hung both around her neck.

With a loud crack Hankey apparated into the cluttered room, wheezing as though she had just run a marathon.

"Master! Master! The ministry buffoons is at the door, sir! They say they is here to arrest the Mudblood! Hankey hear them talking! They be here any minute now, sir!" she squeaked shrilly.

"Alright Hankey, punish yourself for calling Hermione a Mudblood. Hermione, let's go." Draco said in a bored voice.  
>"<em>Draco<em>." said Hermione in her most reprimanding tone.

Mistaking her displeasure at his command to Hankey for displeasure at the directive he had given her, Draco sighed dramatically and drawled "Really Hermione, I get that you don't like being told what to do but you're going to have to trust me a little right now and unfortunately that may require you doing what I say, so that we can get out of this mess."

Hermione was about to respond when the sound of loud banging on the large ornate doors stopped the words from leaving her mouth. Draco frowned a little. They should not have been able to get past the gates that quickly.

Grabbing Hermione's hand, he lead them through the stacks of items to the east wall of the hall. in the middle of it was a fireplace and upon seeing it Hermione immediately began to protest. "Draco, we can't use the floo! They would have blocked all floo network connections out of here or rigged them so that they all pop us out at the ministry's holding chambers or something."

Draco decided to ignore her. If she thought that he was that stupid then there was no point in conversing with her. By way of silent explanation he gripped the head of the right serpent on the mantelpiece and twisted it to the side. The mechanism was quite clever had anyone simply pulled, pushed or tugged on the lever then the snake would not have budged an inch- you had to know exactly how to twist. The Malfoy crest at the center of the mantelpiece slid out a little and revealed a compartment containing over a dozen glowing green marbles. As a new series of bangs sounded throughout the manor, Draco drew one out. After twisting the serpent back into place and thereby effectively closing the compartment he placed the marble onto a nearby table and touched his wand to it. The glow it emitted changed from green to brilliant blue; the portkey had been activated.

Hermione stared at it for a second and then her face broke out into a wide grin. "Draco, that's brilliant!" The marble began to roll around in a circle impatiently.

"Yes, yes, wonderful. I'll tell you all about it later if you want details about how it works - later." Draco's exasperation masked his worry. He was well aware that if they got in, while he and Hermione were still there, and used tracking spells, the room might be discovered. He certainly didn't want that. He could spend the rest of his life in Azkaban just for having many of the objects in the room in his possession.

Gripping Hermione's hand tightly in his own once more, he grabbed the marble just as it was about to fall off the table. As the familiar jerk of the portkey yanked them away, Draco would have sworn he could hear the splash of water and clanking of buckets, followed by the indignant spluttering of ministry officials.


End file.
